


Family Reunion

by BatmanWhoLaughss



Category: Assassin's Creed - All Media Types, Assassin's Creed: Syndicate - Fandom
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Aftermath of Violence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Assassin's Creed: Syndicate, Assassin's Creed: Syndicate Spoilers, Brother-Sister Relationships, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Happy Ending, Jack the Ripper DLC, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Post-Jack the Ripper DLC, Protective Siblings, Rescue, Sibling Bonding, Sibling Love, Siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-15 08:35:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29681289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BatmanWhoLaughss/pseuds/BatmanWhoLaughss
Summary: She turns back to Jacob, pulling his face up towards her own again. Slowly, the eye that’s not swollen shut slides open, looking up at her in confusion.“Evie?” he croaks, his voice barely above a whisper. He sounds incredulous, like he can’t believe she’s really here, and another wave of relief slams into her when she hears his voice.She can’t help but smile at him. “It’s over, Jacob,” she says. “I’m here.”---Picks up where the end of the Jack the Ripper DLC left off [obvious spoiler warning for the end of the DLC]
Relationships: Evie Frye & Jacob Frye
Comments: 6
Kudos: 17





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I love these two with all my fucking heart, they're the best siblings. This picks up immediately after the end of the boss fight, starting from the final cutscene and going from there. There MAY be a chapter two to this coming at some point down the line, but I haven't decided yet

Evie steps forward slowly, her heart in her throat as she holds the small lantern aloft. Jacob’s not moving, just lying there in a crumpled heap and not making a sound. She’s seen him hurt before; they’ve both had their share of close calls in the line of duty. But he’s been locked up down here for _god knows_ how long, and she’s suddenly terrified that she’s too late.

She bites back a gasp as the light lands on him. He’s covered in blood, some old and dried and some bright, shiny and new. Her knees wobble, but she fights the urge to cry- she needs to keep it together for long enough to get him out of here. 

But when she spots the barely-there rise and fall of his chest, she can’t help but drop to her knees beside him as the relief hits her like a train. 

“Jacob?” Evie takes his face in her hands, pulling his head up to get a good look at him. Her eyes are beginning to burn, but she blinks back the tears. One of his eyes is swollen shut, and there’s blood caking the left side of his face. She wraps an arm around his shoulder, trying to get him to sit up slowly without jostling him too badly. He doesn’t make a sound, and her heart is pounding so loudly in her ears that she almost misses the door opening behind her. 

“Miss Frye, what the hell happened here?” Evie turns to face Abberline, her eyes pointedly avoiding Jack’s body on the ground. 

“Nothing, Inspector,” she says, probably a little harsher than she intended. “Nothing happened here.” 

When Abberline glances down at Jack, she can’t help but smirk slightly. 

“Trust me.” Her voice is quieter now. “Jack the Ripper is dead.” She’s half-tempted to bring him back and kill him all over again after seeing what he’s done to Jacob. 

She can hear the other policemen calling Abberline from outside, but Jacob’s pulse is faint and flighty where her hand is pressed against his neck and she’s starting to lose whatever composure she has left. 

“Now help me, Frederick,” Evie says, willing her voice not to break. “No one must ever know that Jack the Ripper was an Assassin.” 

She sees Frederick weigh his options, and for a moment she fears that he’s not going to help them after all. But then she breathes another sigh of relief as he shouts an order to get rid of the journalists.

She turns back to Jacob, pulling his face up towards her own again. Slowly, the eye that’s not swollen shut slides open, looking up at her in confusion.

“Evie?” he croaks, his voice barely above a whisper. He sounds incredulous, like he can’t believe she’s really here, and another wave of relief slams into her when she hears his voice.

She can’t help but smile at him. “It’s over, Jacob,” she says. “I’m here.” 

“Where...wha- happened?” He sounds so weak, like he’s barely holding onto consciousness, and it’s getting harder for her to keep from losing it completely.

“Shh. Just relax. I’m getting you out of here.”

“You…” He blinks, his brow furrowing as he seems to really look at her for the first time. “When did you… get so _old_?” 

Her mouth falls open in shock, just for a moment. And then she loses the battle against her tears, leaning her forehead against his as she bursts into laughter. Because it’s the most utterly _Jacob_ thing in the world to tease her while he’s lying broken and bloody on the dirty floor. 

“No older than you, you _idiot,_ ” Evie says, wiping at her eyes as her chuckles die down. 

Jacob shakes his head as much as he can manage, letting out a groan of pain as she helps him sit up a little more. “ ‘M the younger twin,” he mumbles. “The… pretty one…” He trails off as he’s overcome by a coughing fit, and when she wipes his mouth after it’s over, her handkerchief comes away bloody. 

“Alright, alright,” Evie says, as another stray tear leaks out. “Let’s get you to a hospital.”

She gets him halfway to his feet when he grabs her wrist, his grip surprisingly strong. His eyes are wide, like he’s just remembered something, and she can see the pain and sorrow in them. “I’m sorry,” he whispers. “I’m _so_ sorry. I did this.”

Evie shakes her head, helping him stand up and wrapping his arm around her shoulders. “This isn’t your fault, Jacob.” She feels the truth of it in her very bones. She glances down at Jack’s body, lying just in front of the door. “This was _his_ doing.”

“So many… brothers and sisters-” His voice breaks as another coughing fit wracks his frame, but Evie silences him with a look when it dies down. 

“Jack betrayed you. You couldn’t have stopped him, no matter what you did.”

She can tell he’s about to argue with her– it’s what he does best, after all– but she shakes her head before he can, walking him slowly towards the door. He can barely move, and as she glances down at him, she can see he’s even bloodier than she thought. 

Abberline materializes at Jacob’s other side, slinging his other arm around his shoulder. “C’mon, you bloody moron,” Frederick says, as they make their way out of the cell and towards the basement stairs. “Your sister will kill me if you die on us now.” 

Evie chuckles softly, as Abberline flashes her a small smile. Back on the floor of the dingy cell, Jack’s body lay forgotten, waiting for Frederick’s lieutenants to come and collect it. But as she stares at Jacob hanging mostly limp between them, she can’t help but feel like it’s a hollow victory.

* * *

The amount of damage done to Jacob Frye is excessive to say the least. 

Evie stands at his bedside as the doctor lists off his many injuries. She swallows down the bile building in her throat as the man talks, Jacob’s hand clasped in hers. He’s finally resting, blissfully unconscious after hours of treatment. His torso and arms are wrapped completely in bandages, and she pointedly avoids looking at the blood staining them. They’ve cleaned the blood from his face, but now the swelling looks even worse in the light.

“Will he be all right?” she finally whispers, glancing up at the doctor and trying not to let the fear show on her face. 

The man has a pained expression on his face. “It will be a long recovery,” he says finally. “But your brother is stronger than most. And he was _very_ lucky. Seems like whoever did this to him wanted him alive- wanted him to _suffer_ , sure, but the stab wounds missed all the vital organs.” 

_You trained him well, Jacob,_ Evie thinks bitterly, as her frown deepens. The doctor keeps on talking. “He lost a lot of blood, but with plenty of rest he should be good as new in a few months. 

Unexpectedly, it makes her laugh, as an old memory bubbles to the surface of her mind. They were barely initiates, when Jacob landed wrong after a leap of faith and had to stay off his feet for weeks. He was _so_ grumpy, and she can’t help but groan as she thinks about how insufferable he’s going to be. She doesn’t really care, though. Not as long as he wakes up. 

“He’s not going to like that,” Evie finally says, squeezing Jacob’s hand softly. “He’s never been one to sit still for long.” 

The doctor rests a hand on her shoulder for a moment, a gesture of sympathy. “He should be awake soon, if you’d like to stay with him.” He does her the courtesy of pulling up a chair, and Evie drops onto it gratefully as the man leaves them alone. And then there’s nothing to distract her from her own thoughts. 

There’s a crease in Jacob's eyebrows that she can’t help but smooth away with her thumb, and as she does so, another memory rises to the surface. The both of them together, deep underneath Buckingham Palace, facing Starrick together with matching smiles on their faces. She remembers the adrenaline, the relief, the joy at finally being close to Jacob again after months of distance-

 _I should have been here_ . She should have been with him, instead of dashing off to India with Henry and leaving him to deal with this monster on his own. Didn’t he once tell her, years ago, that they were stronger together? But she didn’t listen to him yet _again_ . Instead she turned her back on him, on _them_ , and everything they accomplished together.

“I’m sorry, Jacob,” she whispers. “I’m so sorry.”

She’s not sure how much time passes as she sits there. She’s vaguely aware of the doctor coming back in at some point, checking Jacob’s bandages and bringing her a glass of water that she accepts wordlessly. She’s still just staring at him, as if she can compel him to wake up by the force of her will alone. 

It must be hours later before she finally feels his hand tighten its grip in her own. It’s only a moment, and she barely registers it before he suddenly gasps, his whole body going rigid before he tries to sit up hurriedly. He thinks he’s back in that dingy cell– she can see the panic in his eyes when they fly open.

“Jacob, _Jacob!”_ He jerks away from her hand when it finds his shoulder, and she has to calm him down before he pulls his stitches out and undoes all the doctor’s hard work. “Jacob, _look at me_ , you’re alright.” 

He stops trying to jerk away from her, instead glancing around the room in confusion. “It’s me. It’s Evie,” she says, turning his face to make him look at her. “You’re in hospital. It’s okay.”

He swallows, slowly getting his bearings as she helps him sit up. He bites back a groan of pain, clutching his broken ribs, but thankfully it looks like he didn’t manage to pull any of his stitches out. 

It’s a moment before he sighs, grabbing for the glass of water Evie holds out to him and gulping it down greedily. “What happened?” 

“What do you remember?”

“...Jack,” Jacob says, darkly. “I was chasing him down, trying to stop him. He got the drop on me. Then pain. Lots of pain. I remember you… and then I woke up here.” He glances at her, raises an eyebrow. “What happened to Jack?” He sounds like he’s afraid to hear the answer. 

Evie smiles, but there’s no mirth in it. “Dead. Very dead.” 

Jacob’s face falls, but his eyes are hard. “Good.” 

Her hand finds his shoulder again, because as much of a monster as he was, she knows Jacob was probably still holding out hope that he could be saved. “I’m sorry.” 

Jacob shrugs. “I’m sorry you had to clean up my mess again,” he says, bitterly. 

Evie chuckles. “I’ve always been good at that, haven’t I?” But then she gives him a serious look. “This wasn’t your fault. You believed in him. That’s not a bad thing.” 

He doesn’t respond for a moment, just stares down at his hands with a look on his face that she really doesn’t like. But then he glances up at her, wearing that small smirk that’s so uniquely his. “Good _lord_ , Evie, you really _did_ get old.” 

She blinks once, then twice. And that’s when she hugs him, careful not to put too much weight on him but gripping him tightly all the same. They’re both laughing, and she feels Jacob’s face settle into the crook of her neck as her hand finds the back of his head. 

“I’m glad you’re alright, little brother,” Evie says. 

She hears him scoff, like he always does when she calls him that ( _“We’re_ twins _, Evie, we’re the same age_ ), but he doesn’t bother to grumble about it, this time. He just holds on a little tighter. “ _I’m_ glad you got my message,” he finally says. “And that you’re a better Assassin then I ever could be.” 

She pulls back to look him in the eye. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here. I’m sorry you had to deal with him on your own.” 

Jacob, predictably, shakes his head. “Oh, don’t do that. You wanted to go to India, and I was never going to stop you.” 

She _did_ want to go, that was true, but she’s missed him terribly all the same, and if she _were_ here, this never would have happened. She opens her mouth to speak, but he looks at her like he knows exactly what she’s thinking, before bumping her shoulder lightly with his own. “Don’t get all weepy on me _now,_ dear sister,” he says, laughing. 

It makes Evie laugh too, as Jacob gulps down another sip of water. A moment later, he swallows thickly, and there’s an emotion she can’t quite decipher on his face. “Speaking of, I suppose you’ll be heading back soon, yeah? Now that the mission’s done.” 

Evie blinks at him, her brow furrowing. Does he _really_ think she’s just going to leave him like this, after everything? He’s not looking at her now, but she can read him like a book, and she suddenly hates the years of distance that her relocation put between them.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she scoffs. “Someone needs to keep you off your feet for the next few months. And I’m sure you’re going to need my help rebuilding the Brotherhood.” 

“You’re– you’re staying? What about Henry? And the Indian Brotherhood?”

Evie shrugs. “Henry will understand. Maybe I can even persuade him to come to London for a while.” Jacob is still staring at her, his eyebrows raised, and she smiles at him. “Family sticks together.” It’s something their father used to say, and the smile that spreads across Jacob’s face mirrors her own. 

Jacob chuckles, his face flushing pink. “I’ve missed you, Evie,” he says in a quiet voice. 

She bumps his shoulder again. “I’ve missed you too, you prat.” 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't really plan for there to be a second chapter to this, but it just sort of happened- I was in a writing mood. Who knows, maybe there will be a part 3 at some point. Enjoy!

Jacob spends the next two weeks in hospital. Evie spends most of her time there as well, only leaving occasionally to tend to an errand or two. When she learns that he’s not getting much sleep at all, she insists on staying with him, much to the chagrin of the hospital staff. Jacob grumbles about it too, just like she knew he would, but he actually sleeps through the night the first time Evie sets up a cot in his room, so she keeps doing it. 

Eventually, they deem him healthy enough to go home, but it comes with _incredibly_ pointed instructions to avoid physical activity for at least two months. Jacob just flashed his signature smirk, as Evie rolled her eyes and whispered to the doctor that she’d make sure he rests. 

When their carriage comes to a stop outside of Assassin HQ, the look on Jacob’s face makes her insides clench. He’s staring at the facade like he’s drinking it in, like he thought he wasn’t ever going to see it again. Her hand is on his shoulder to keep him steady, and she feels the muscles in his back finally untense when she pushes the door open. 

He raises an eyebrow at her. “You know, I _can_ walk without your help, sweet sister.” 

Evie just rolls her eyes. “You can’t do _anything_ without my help.” It’s their usual banter, nothing more, but she can see something flash behind his eyes that makes her frown. 

A couple of initiates are standing inside when they make their way into HQ. When they spot the twins, one of them lets out a gasp, rushing over to where they’re standing. The smile on Jacob’s face is a genuine one, as he grasps the initiate’s hand in his own. _He’s a good leader,_ Evie thinks. _Better than I am. He cares so much, for all of them._

“Mentor Jacob! You’re alright!” 

“We feared the worst.” says another Assassin, from their left.

“And Mentor Evie! You’ve returned!” Evie smiles at them, but part of her is still watching her brother.

Jacob’s smile doesn’t leave his face. “I’ll live, gents.” Then he gives the two Assassins a serious look. “I want a full report on how things are looking in Whitechapel. Now that the Ripper’s… gone, we’ve got our work cut out for us, I’d say.”

“Alright, alright, lads,” Evie says, chuckling softly and pulling Jacob towards the stairs. “Give Mr. Frye some space for a bit.” Because lord knows, if she let him, he’d throw himself right back into the fight without any regard for himself. It’s what he’s always been good at. 

Jacob frowns at her as she leads him upstairs. “The Brotherhood isn’t going to rebuild itself, Evie. We’ve got work to do.” 

She barks out a laugh, because she can’t help but remember when they first came to London all those years ago. “Now who’s too focused on the mission, hmm?” She shakes her head, still chuckling. “You need to heal. You won’t do the Brotherhood any good until you’re at your best, and you know it.”

“London‒”

“Will still be here in a week or two, when you don’t look like you’re going to collapse at any moment.”

He knows better than to argue with her, but she can tell he’s grumpy. She knows how grumpy _she_ would be, if she were in his shoes. But, he’s always been the one to throw himself headlong into action without worrying about the consequences, and she knows how hard it is for him to stick to the sidelines.

He practically pouts when she sits him down on his bed, helping him get his boots off and his legs propped up (the stab wounds on his thighs were some of the deepest). “I can manage,” he grumbles, even as he lets out a loud grunt of pain. She ignores his whining, instead helping him get his jacket and waistcoat off until he’s only wearing the thin white shirt he had on underneath. “ _Evie-_ ”

“Oh, don’t be a baby,” Evie can’t help but snap at him. “You can just admit that it hurts, it won’t kill you.”

He flinches, visibly, and the small motion makes Evie freeze. His eyes seem far away, like he’s somewhere else inside his head, and she squeezes his shoulder softly. 

“Jacob?” 

He sighs. “Sorry,” he mumbles. “It’s just… Jack kept saying that. ‘Just give in to the pain, Assassin.’”

“I’m sorry,” Evie says softly.

He grimaces at her. “Not your fault I created a monster.” 

Now it’s Evie’s turn to sigh. “Jacob…” He’s never going to stop blaming himself, is he? No matter how many times she tells him it wasn’t his fault. She suspects he’ll carry that burden for the rest of his life. 

She’s about to say something else, when she catches sight of a red patch staining his shirt. “You’ve pulled your stitching,” Evie whispers.

He glances down at his torso, _hmph_ -ing softly. “Damn. So I have.”

“Come on. We should get those bandages changed anyway.”

Jacob smirks again, but she can see that it doesn’t reach his eyes. “You’re turning into Sister Margaret, you know.” One of their caretakers as children.

Evie rolls her eyes. “Heaven forbid.” She helps him get his shirt off, before slowly starting to unwrap the gauze surrounding his torso and chest. “Now, will you stop being an arse for five minutes and let me help you?”

“You always used to like watching me suffer. What happened to those days?” He’s joking, keeping his voice light, but when she meets his eyes there’s something dark in them. 

Evie sighs. “I found my brother in a basement, lying in a pool of his own blood. Now shut up and let me do this.” 

He stares at her for a moment, and whatever he sees on her face must be enough for him. All the fight goes out of him suddenly, his whole body relaxing as he lets her work. He’s quiet as she removes the bandages painstakingly slowly. She’s trying to be mindful of his ribs and other injuries, but the bruising looks worse than the last time she saw it and it almost breaks her concentration.

When Evie finishes unwrapping his upper chest, she gets an idea. “Oi!” she calls to the initiates downstairs. When one of them materializes in the doorway, she doesn’t waste any time. “Get me a bucket of hot water and some linens as quick as you can, yeah?” The young man is staring at Jacob with his mouth open, but she brings his focus back to her with a soft, “Go on.” 

When the man nods, Evie turns back to her brother, who’s staring at her with a smirk on his face. 

“What?” she asks. “Those wounds aren’t going to clean themselves.”

He chuckles softly, but doesn’t say anything more as she finishes unraveling the bandages. By the time she gets them all the way off, the Assassin is back, with the aforementioned water, and she sets to work. 

Evie’s halfway through cleaning off the dried blood on Jacob’s shoulders when he sighs again. “He kept me locked up for a month.” His voice is low, and he’s pointedly avoiding looking at her, but he knows as well as she does what they were both taught about near-death experiences. _Get the whole thing off your chest as soon as possible, so it doesn’t weigh you down._ It was something their early trainers drilled into both their heads, but he was never good at it before now. “I kept trying to talk to him, trying to get through to the man underneath, but after a while I could tell the old Jack was really gone.”

Evie doesn’t say anything, just squeezes his shoulder sympathetically. “I was _so_ convinced I could fix him,” he finishes.

He’s still not looking at her. “You can’t save someone who doesn’t want to be saved. The Mentors told us that all the time, remember?”

“I know, but…” 

“What did he do to you, Jacob?” Best to get right to the thick of it, and derail this train of thought before it has time to really pick up steam.

“Oh, you know,” he says, letting out a nervous laugh and gesturing at himself. “This. Knives aren’t as much fun when you’re not the one holding them.”

He’s silent for a few minutes, as Evie keeps wiping at his shoulders and chests. The rags don’t come away as bloody as they did in the hospital, which she takes as an encouraging sign. 

“The pain wasn’t the worst of it.” he mumbles, finally. “He made me watch. Some of the Assassins he… He would bring them to the asylum first. Have some _fun_ with them, as he called it. And he made me watch. They kept calling out to me, asking me to help them, but all I could do was _watch.”_ His voice breaks at the end, and the guilt is clear as day all over his face. 

Evie’s hand stills, and she freezes in the middle of wiping down the area around his torn stitch. Then she nods, finishing her work quickly and grabbing for the fresh gauze. She doesn’t speak for a few minutes more, as she starts rewrapping the wounds on his arms. 

“Do you remember that story Father told us once? About his trip to study with the French Brotherhood?” she asks after a moment.

He raises an eyebrow, but he slowly nods his head. “And do you remember what he told us about when he was captured by the Templars? What he said?”  
Jacob tucks his chin in like a pouty child, but he begrudgingly replies. “Sometimes survival is a victory all on its own.” 

Evie smirks at him. “Perhaps you should consider listening to him for once in your life. Might do you some good.”

Jacob chuckles. “He’d probably roll over in his grave if he knew I was finally taking his advice.” 

Evie finishes binding the last of his wounds, dropping the dirty linens in the bucket and moving to help him lie down. 

“You know…” Jacob starts. “I never said thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me,” Evie says automatically. “It’s what family does.”

“I know… but thank you. For coming for me.”

She gives him a small smile, before leaning down to press a kiss to his forehead. “Get some rest. I’ll come check on you later.” 

He opens his mouth to speak, but she beats him to it. “ _And_ , I’ll go look at that report you asked for. Start formulating a plan of attack.” 

“Always the pragmatist, dear sister,” Jacob says, grinning. 

Evie smirks. “You hate it.”

“Oh I do. I really do. But I hate it less when you’re saving my neck.” 

She shakes her head, still smiling fondly at him. “I’m always saving your neck.”


End file.
